Convertible glider



April 30, 1940. w, s n'H 2,198,887

CONVERTIBLE GLIDER Filed Sept 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l 0 IN V EN TOR.

W/7/l'am 5/77/77? A T'TORNEY April 30, 1940. w, SMITH v 2,198,887

CONVERTIBLE GLIDER Filed Sept. 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVEN TOR. W/Y/Iaml Sm/#7 y Y AMI l ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 30, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT 7 OFFICE 'f CONVERTIBLE GLIDER William 1. Smith, Perrysburg, Ohio, assignor to The Hettrick Manufacturing Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 13, 1939, Serial No; 294,714

3 Claims.

This invention relates to articles of furniture but particularly, although not exclusively, to gliders which are adapted to be converted for use as a bed.

An object is to produce an article of furniture of the above character equipped with back and seat structures in which the back can be'moved to a position substantially in alignment with the seat and the spring cushion on the seat can be anchored or so connected to the back structure as to militate against sagging so that a more comfortable arrangementis produced and in which there is no, abrupt change in the spring action between the back structure and seat cushion, it being understood that ordinarily in structures of this character, the seat is provided with a relatively soft resilient cushion but the backstruc ture, although being provided with a cushion, does not have as soft or flexible arrangement.

Another object is to produce a glider equipped with relatively yielding and flexible seat cushioning springs and a back structure which can be moved to form with the seat a bed, means being provided for suitably connecting the back and seat structure when in bed-forming position to militate against a soft spot in the region between the back and seat structures.

' Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown on the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a glider,

embodying the invention, the cushion pads being removed;

Figure'Z is an enlarged front perspective view of a portion of the glider shown in Figure 1 and with the back structure swung down into bedforming position but with the back structure disconnected from the seat springs;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the seat spring unit attached to the back structure;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on the line 4- 1 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on the line 55 of Figure 3.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a glider having a supporting frame consisting of, a pair of U-shaped rods 10 and II, the ends of the Us being turned upwardly and engaged by upright sheet metal supporting panels l2 which are socketed at their opposite ends to receive the end portion of the tubes In and H. The particular construction of the suplower ends to legs M depending from the seat frame S. 1 The seat frame 3- is made up .of a rectangular supporting frame [5 of angle iron. Supported on the framell5 in any suitable or well-known manner is a coil spring arrangement consisting of a series of coil springs I6 carried by cross-cross wires ll hooked onto the frame l5, a

metal slat it'reenforcing the. structure. The upper ends of the series of 'coil springs is enclosed by a relatively heavy wire frame IE to which the adjacent springs are anchored, similar criss-cross wires serving to retain the springs in the desired position. It will be understood that one or more fabric seat pads are placed upon the coil spring structure in the usual'manner.

Suitably fixed to each rear corner portion of the seat frame I5 is an upwardly and rearwardly inclined bracket arm 2i! and pivotally connected to the bracket arms are the lower end portions of a back frame generally indicated at B. The back structure B is made up of a rectangular frame 21 of approximately the'same length as the seat frame l5 and also constructed of angle iron. The frame 2| carries a cushioning structure which, in this instance, is made up of a plurality of horizontally extendingstraps 22 which are connected by coil springs 23 to each end of the frame 2i. A strap 24 is disposed intermediate the ends of the frame 2| and is disposed beneath the straps 22 for reenforcing them. On the opposite side of the straps 22 are transverse straps 25 which are connected by coil springs '26 to'the outer side of the frame 2!.

Normally the back structure B is supported in rest structure which is suitably secured tothe seat frame l5 so as to movewith it, as will be readily understood by those skilled in this art. 7

It will be manifest thatthe back structure B can be freed from the bracket plates 29 by merely flexing the latter outwardly away from the adjacent stud 21. Thereupon, the back structure may be swung downwardly into a position substantially in alignment with the coil spring series carried by the seat frame l5. In order to support the back structure in its downward position, a pair of legs 3| pivoted to the outer side of the back frame 2| can be swung downwardly to the position indicated in Figures 2 and 3 to provide a support therefor.

When the back structure B is swung downwardly to the position shown on Figures 2 and 3, it is in bed-forming position and cooperates with the spring cushion on the seat frame to provide a double bed which may receive the cushions (not shown) normally resting against the back structure B and on the seat cushion, or may receive a mattress of a size sufiicient to cover both the back and seat structures.

As shown particularly on Figure 4, when the back structure is swung downwardly to bed-forming position, the coil spring cushion on the seat frame I5 is slightly spaced laterally and vertically from the back frame. It will also be observed that the spring arrangement making up the seat cushion is more flexible and relatively softerrthan the cushion on the back frame. Consequently, unless some provision is made to compensate for these differences in flexibility, the structure would not be .particularly comfortable for use as a bed, because the center part in the region of the inner side of the back structure B and the adjacent seat spring arrangement would provide, on the one hand, a relatively hard and uncomfortable ridge formed by the edge of the back frame and, on the other hand, a relatively soft and yieldable seat spring structure. To overcome this difficulty, a plurality of hooks 32 are riveted at spaced intervals to the inner side of the back structure B, each hook projecting beyond the side of the back structure, and these books are arranged to receive the adjacent length of the wire frame i9 of the seat spring assembly. As indicated in Figure 4, when the back structure is in its horizontal position, the frame I9 is spaced from the hook members but by lifting up on the frame l9 and slightly elongating the adjacent coil springs IS, the frame may be moved into engagement with the hooks 32 thereby bringing the upper surfaces of the coil springs l6 substantially into alignment with the back frame B. In this manner, the flexibility of the bed formed in this manner is more nearly uniform and the abrupt demarcation from a relatively rigid to a relatively flexible surface is considerably lessened. This provides a much more comfortable supporting surface and materially reduces objections heretofore inherent in a convertible glider of this character. When the back frame B is swung upwardly to its normal position to convert the structure again into use as a glider, it will be apparent from an examination of Figure 5 that the hooks 32 will be swung downwardly and rearwardly about an are defined by the pivotal connection between the back frame and the supporting brackets 20. This results in an automatic release of the wire frame or border wire l9 so that the spring structure then assumes its original position. It will then be apparent that upon again connecting the studs 21 to the bracket plate 29, the back is then in position for use as a glider.

It is to be understood that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be efiected without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An article of furniture of the type set forth, including a supporting frame, a seat structure mounted on the frame and including an assembly of vertically arranged coiled springs, means interconnecting the top coils of the spring assembly, a bar-like member at the rear of the assembly and disposed in the plane of the tops of the coils and connected to adjacent top coils, vertically extending members connected to the frame, a back member pivotally connected to the vertical members so as to be movable in one position to lie in a substantially horizontal plane, and means rigid with the lower edge of the back member and with which said bar-like member is engageable when the back element is in horizontal position so as to bring and hold the top surface of the spring assembly at the rear thereof, close to and substantially in the plane of the back member, and means to support the back member against downward movement when in said horizontal position.

2. An article of furniture in accordance with claim 1, wherein the means rigid with the back member consist of hooks, formed so that when the back member is moved to occupy a vertical position, the hooks will be automatically disengaged from the bar-like member of the seat structure.

3. An article of furniture of the type set forth including a supporting frame, a seat structure mounted on the frame, and including an assembly of vertically arranged coil springs, means interconnecting the top coils of the spring assembly, an element at the rear of the assembly and disposed in the plane of the top coils and connected to adjacent top coils, vertically extending members connected to the frame, a back element pivotally connected to the vertical members so as to be movable in one position to lie in a sub- 

